You need to give up on XI-2

[bobbygunz]

Have you played this game when it launched? He fixed a lot of things, it's 1000 times better then it used to be. It's not as good as it should be yet. There's a lot less complains for this game after each patch, some are actually enjoing it the way it is now. He may have a lot invested in 2.0 but he done a lot too since he took over.

I'm not saying he is a bad director, but you realise this game was released in september 2010, right? By Rise of Zilart standards, if I can make a comparison, i.e., the western release of ffxi, content in FFXI was basically doubled since JP release. So within a year, there were huge improvements to the game. The staff upheaval when Tanaka stood down may have actually crippled progress for FFXIV for all we know. I mean, in FFXIV, we've had some improvements, but no new areas that weren't already in the dats since the official release date. There's been progress made, but come on, not as much as you'd expect for 2 years of continued development.

I realise it's an uncommon situation since most of the progress they've made is still under wraps, and that's my point, we haven't even seen their progress, so you can't act like Yoshi has proved himself the amazing director everyone says he is, yet.

In fact, I think the game would be in better shape now even if Tanaka was still on board, and I say this because we would actually SEE the progress, rather than it being hidden away for 2.0. Progress was happening at a rapid pace even before Tanaka stood down. Don't you remember the rather prompt release of NMs and debugging that happened after release? They even alleviated a lot of lag? And they increased timers for food and guild facilities , etc, so already they were listening to feedback and building the game around that, and making it less punishing.

And there are still a great many complaints, today, many directed at things S.E. intends to launch with FFXIV. Just take that content finder thingy as an example.

So in conclusion, Yoshi might be good. Might be. But how do we know until 2.0?

[Rydin]

I'm not saying he is a bad director, but you realise this game was released in september 2010, right? By Rise of Zilart standards, if I can make a comparison, i.e., the western release of ffxi, content in FFXI was basically doubled since JP release. So within a year, there were huge improvements to the game. The staff upheaval when Tanaka stood down may have actually crippled progress for FFXIV for all we know. I mean, in FFXIV, we've had some improvements, but no new areas that weren't already in the dats since the official release date. There's been progress made, but come on, not as much as you'd expect for 2 years of continued development.

I realise it's an uncommon situation since most of the progress they've made is still under wraps, and that's my point, we haven't even seen their progress, so you can't act like Yoshi has proved himself the amazing director everyone says he is, yet.

In fact, I think the game would be in better shape now even if Tanaka was still on board, and I say this because we would actually SEE the progress, rather than it being hidden away for 2.0. Progress was happening at a rapid pace even before Tanaka stood down. Don't you remember the rather prompt release of NMs and debugging that happened after release? They even alleviated a lot of lag? And they increased timers for food and guild facilities , etc, so already they were listening to feedback and building the game around that, and making it less punishing.

And there are still a great many complaints, today, many directed at things S.E. intends to launch with FFXIV. Just take that content finder thingy as an example.

So in conclusion, Yoshi might be good. Might be. But how do we know until 2.0?

Tucking all the content away for 2.0 is a very bold strategy... only time will tell if it works to his advantage...
We can make predictions... but the gaming market is fickle and unpredictable...
No one knows what will happen come 2.0....
A big E3 and a strong Famitsu score will help... but it's still anyone's guess overall

[bobbygunz]

Tucking all the content away for 2.0 is a very bold strategy... only time will tell if it works to his advantage...
We can make predictions... but the gaming market is fickle and unpredictable...
No one knows what will happen come 2.0....
A big E3 and a strong Famitsu score will help... but it's still anyone's guess overall

I used to think Yoshi had a dream job, but now that you think about it, the consequence for failure will be severe. It must be really stressful.

[Yves]

I used to think Yoshi had a dream job, but now that you think about it, the consequence for failure will be severe. It must be really stressful.

Meh, in an immediate sense it would seem severe. On a slightly larger timeline it's a situation where he cannot lose but only gain. In any industry, if an individual takes the helm of either a sinking ship or a failed project they immediately have the "out" of "I inherited a no-win situation." This is nice because any improvement is a gold star. However, if the project succeeds, it is because of the vision and ability of the individuals involved - it's icing.

Perhaps in Japan the impact would be greater (due to cultural differences) but on a global scale he would be received as almost a hero who committed himself to a cause he could not win and did so with conviction. This is similar to William Wallace and Davy Crockett at the Alamo. And, even in the case of ill-reception in Japan, time will fade the scars nicely.

[bobbygunz]

Meh, in an immediate sense it would seem severe. On a slightly larger timeline it's a situation where he cannot lose but only gain. In any industry, if an individual takes the helm of either a sinking ship or a failed project they immediately have the "out" of "I inherited a no-win situation." This is nice because any improvement is a gold star. However, if the project succeeds, it is because of the vision and ability of the individuals involved - it's icing.

Perhaps in Japan the impact would be greater (due to cultural differences) but on a global scale he would be received as almost a hero who committed himself to a cause he could not win and did so with conviction. This is similar to William Wallace and Davy Crockett at the Alamo. And, even in the case of ill-reception in Japan, time will fade the scars nicely.

True, and even that guy who did the AOIN westernisation got hired again for TERA. So I guess Yoshi will have it easy regardless. Plus everyone loves him, almost - dare I say - religiously.

[StateAlchemist]

Tucking all the content away for 2.0 is a very bold strategy... only time will tell if it works to his advantage...
We can make predictions... but the gaming market is fickle and unpredictable...
No one knows what will happen come 2.0....
A big E3 and a strong Famitsu score will help... but it's still anyone's guess overall

^This. I am anticipating every tid-bit of information I can get from E3 about Version 2.0. I do think SE has a really solid chance of turning this failure into a mild-success (maybe not a shining one...it will always be tainted...). Although at this point they would REALLY have to screw up to get me to leave the game. But I still have high expectations for 2.0 that I hope SE can meet.

[Tibian]

The staff upheaval when Tanaka stood down may have actually crippled progress for FFXIV for all we know.

There were very few members that actually left. It was simply a restructuring of the development team. So whoever is working on XIV now, worked on it when it was under Tanaka's terrible production.

I mean, in FFXIV, we've had some improvements, but no new areas that weren't already in the dats since the official release date. There's been progress made, but come on, not as much as you'd expect for 2 years of continued development.

I agree and disagree with you here. Nothing we have now is probably "new" except for grand companies and I don't think jobs were ever in the picture with Tanaka. The fact that Yoshi has shown off jumping means he is clearly exploring all options rather than just saying "We're investigating," or "Please look forward to it (in 5 years)."

I realise it's an uncommon situation since most of the progress they've made is still under wraps, and that's my point, we haven't even seen their progress, so you can't act like Yoshi has proved himself the amazing director everyone says he is, yet.

I think you can tell that Yoshi has proven himself an amazing director. He's taken literally the worst game ever made (an MMO nontheless) and has clearly rallied the development team into a better position than Tanaka ever did over the course of the development of the game. The fact that Yoshi has come out and said that they need to rebuild the servers and the graphics engine is proof alone that he is far more intelligent than Tanaka when it comes to understanding current MMOs. The work that Yoshi has mediated with the same dev team that Tanaka has clearly proves he can not only lead a team of people, but can cohesively hold a vision and execute it. The current engine/game is still terrible, but look at what Yoshi has done with it. I guarantee you Tanaka would have just let it sit in the quagmire of death that still resembled the horrible XI engine.

In fact, I think the game would be in better shape now even if Tanaka was still on board, and I say this because we would actually SEE the progress, rather than it being hidden away for 2.0.

I completely disagree with you here. Tanaka doesn't promote progress, he promotes complete stagnation; XI is proof of this. Tanaka didn't even want to implement a hardware mouse.

Progress was happening at a rapid pace even before Tanaka stood down. Don't you remember the rather prompt release of NMs and debugging that happened after release? They even alleviated a lot of lag? And they increased timers for food and guild facilities , etc, so already they were listening to feedback and building the game around that, and making it less punishing.

Lag was reduced due to the exodus of players from the game. The pace at which the development team is churning out content and fixes for a scrapped system is much more impressive than anything Tanaka did.

So in conclusion, Yoshi might be good. Might be. But how do we know until 2.0?

Given the fact that Yoshi has landed in the hospital, most likely due to the insane amount of work he is putting in on the game... im pretty sure he's at least devoted. You should probably give him the benefit of the doubt -- especially when he has done AMAZING things with the worst game systems ever developed.

[Rydin]

I think you can tell that Yoshi has proven himself an amazing director.

While he has done a good job... I wouldn't call him an "amazing director" just yet...
We still have yet to see the bulk of his contribution.
Also, he has some proven and tested final fantasy developers on his staff...
He may end up proving his greatness... 2.0 will definitely be quite a barometer... but right here, right now, calling him "amazing" is jumping the gun a little...

And I'm actually a fan of Yoshi and what he is doing... Let's just try to be realistic

[Yves]

While he has done a good job... I wouldn't call him an "amazing director" just yet...
We still have yet to see the bulk of his contribution.
Also, he has some proven and tested final fantasy developers on his staff...
He may end up proving his greatness... 2.0 will definitely be quite a barometer... but right here, right now, calling him "amazing" is jumping the gun a little...

And I'm actually a fan of Yoshi and what he is doing... Let's just try to be realistic

Rydin and I agree/disagree on fundamentals but I always believe that he brings up good points. This is one of them and one that we share.

The fans are putting a ton of unrealistic emphasis on 2.0. I know that part of it has to do with the common response of "...in 2.0..." but we let our imaginations run wild. I really hope people keep expectations realistic. No, realistic is not "I'm a paying customer and I DEMAND my socks be blown off" - that's entitlement. Hope for the best, expect better than now, and be prepared for something in between.

[Rydin]

Rydin and I agree/disagree on fundamentals but I always believe that he brings up good points. This is one of them and one that we share.

The fans are putting a ton of unrealistic emphasis on 2.0. I know that part of it has to do with the common response of "...in 2.0..." but we let our imaginations run wild. I really hope people keep expectations realistic. No, realistic is not "I'm a paying customer and I DEMAND my socks be blown off" - that's entitlement. Hope for the best, expect better than now, and be prepared for something in between.

Awww... I feel the Yves love